Safety protector for shoes



July 1955 i F. J. CORRIGAN 2,712 1 SAFETY PROTECTOR FOR SHOES Filed Feb.7. 1955 INVEN'IIOR ATTORNEY 'Francz's JCOrujczn.

United States Patent 2,712,185 SAFETY PROTECTOR FOR SHOES Francis J.Corrigan, Kutztown, Pa.

Application February 7, 1955, Serial No. 486,436

Claims. (Cl. 36-42) This invention relates to a safety protector forshoes and, more particularly, to a protector that is detachably.

secured to the shoes of the wearer to protect his feet from injury asthe result of falling objects and the like in industrial plants. v

An outstanding disadvantage of common types of safety protectors forshoes is that they are complicated and cumbersome in construction andare heavy and stiff, therefore exceedingly uncomfortable to wear and .donot permit freedom of movement of the foot in stooping, climbing etc. bythe wearer.

Another outstanding disadvantage of common types of safety protectorsfor shoes is that they do not fully and adequately protect the arch, toeand sides of the foot against injury, furthermore the shock from fallingobjects is usually felt to some degree on the foot of the wearer.

An object of my invention is to provide a novel safety shoe protector ofthe readily detachable type which is devoid of the above nameddisadvantages of commonly used shoe protectors.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a safety protectorfor shoes which fully protects the instep, toe and sides of the footagainst injury from falling objects without transferring any of theshock to the foot and, instead, by transferring the shock to the flooror ground surface.

A further object of my invention is to provide a relatively simple,inexpensive and extremely comfortable safety protector for shoes whichprovides a cushion-like primary shield and a rigid and spaced secondaryshield so as to provide extreme comfort and permit freedom of movementof the feet in bending and climbing etc. and at the same time provideabsolute protection, even against the heaviest of falling objects, in amanner so that the shock is not felt by the foot.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a shoe protectorwhich is of relatively light weight and which may be worn either withordinary shoes or with shoes having a steel cap toe shield and which isso comfortable that workers will not shun its use and otherwise subjectthemselves to dangers of falling objects and resultant foot injury.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from a study of the following description taken with theaccompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of a safety protector for shoes andembodying the principles of my invention;

Figure 2 is a top view of the safety protector shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side view of the safety protector shown in Figures 1 and 2with the shoes of the wearer shown in dotted outline;

Figure 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken along line 1V-IV ofFigure 3; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view showing a part ofthe top or secondary protector and the 2,712,185 Patented July 5, 1 955manner in which it is supported in grooved portions of the portions ofguard 2, and which is adapted to serve as a a preferably of rigidplastic material.

I,- bearings provided by projections 40.

stop which will engage the front vertical portion of the heel of thewearers shoe.

Attached to the sides of guard 1, and preferably integrally moldedtherewith in one piece, is a side guard 3 made of the same material asguard 1, preferably foam rubber material or the like. Guard 3 provides acushioned side protective barrier and is in the form of a vertical sidewall substantially surrounding the sole of the shoe. Formed along theinner wall surface of guard 3 are horizontally extending grooves 3a, asshown more clearly in Figure 5, for receiving laterally extendingprojections 4a integrally secured to a secondary guard 4,

An important feature of the secondary or outer guard v4 is that itis'disposed in spaced relationship with respect to the primary guard 1,as shown more clearly in Figure 4, and that it is supported solely byside guard 3 through'the support Therefore in the event an object fallson secondary guard 4, the shock is' not transferred to the instep or toeportion, but instead is transferred to and distributed along the sideguards 3 and thence to the floor or ground surface on which the wearerwalks. Since secondary guard 4 is of rigid but somewhat flexible plasticmaterial, it will yield to some extent as the result of blows thereon,but not su'tficiently under ordinary conditions to press against theprimary guard 1. Of course, if greater strength is desired, thesecondary guard 4 may be made of plastic reinforced with glass fibers orother suitable reinforcing material, or may be made of metal, such asaluminum or steel for certain industrial work.

It will be noted that the secondary or outer guard 4 has spaced notchedout parts 4b throughout its perimeter which increase the yieldability ofthe side portions of the guard. It should be noted that the secondaryguard 4 may be extended so as to cover the toe portion as shown in thedrawing, such as in the case wherein ordinary shoes 'i are worn by thewearer, or they may be shortened so as not to cover the toe portion insituations wherein the shoe is of the safety type and includes a metalcap toe protector. Of course, the forward portion 4 may be moredownwardly arched than shown in order to conform more nearly to theshapev of the toe portion of the shoe if so desired.

Integrally secured to and extending rearwardly from the bridging element2 are heel surrounding bridging elements 5 whoserear ends are integrallysecured to a heel protector 6. Elements 5, and heel protector 6 may beintegrally molded of the same material as the primary guard 1, such asfoam rubber, so as to provide a cushioned protective barrier for theheel of the wearer's foot. Heel protector 6 may be firmly bound and heldagainst the heel by means of shoe strings 7 or bindings of strongmaterial which are laced to inner guard 1 by passing through elongatedslots such as 1a at the right and left of the instep, and through slots1b adjacent the bottom edge of guard 1, and by passing through slotsformed in the heel protector 6 at corresponding levels.

Thus it will be apparent that only spongy material closely engages theshoe of the wearer throughout, pro- 3 viding protection against blowsand providing extreme comfort by allowing the foot to bend freely forvarious working operations. It will be noted that the secondary guard 4of rigid plastic material is spaced sufiiciently from the primaryprotector or guard 1 so as not to stiffen the primary guard or detractfrom its flexibility, and at the same time without the sacrificev ofcomplete protection for the instep and toe of the wearer.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an eflicient safety protectorfor shoes which is readily detachable, extremely comfortable to wear andwhich provides a cushioned primary flexible guard and a secondary stiffguard'spaced from the primary guard and supported only by the sideportions of the primary guard so as to give maximum protection to thefoot and so as to transfer all of the shock from a blow to the floorrather than to the instep or toe of the wearerffurthermore I haveprovided a safety protector for shoes in which side guards are providedfor protecting the foot of the wearer against falling objects regardlessof the position of the wearers foot and for protecting against slidingobjects on a floor; furthermore I have provided a safety protector forshoes which is extremely light and easy to attach or detach and whichmay be worn either with ordinary shoes or with safety shoes having steeltoe caps.

While I have illustrated and described one embodiment of my invention,it will be understood that this is by way of illustration only, and thatvarious changes and modifications may be made within the contemplationof my invention andwithin the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

I 1. A safety protector for shoes, comprisinga side guard of yieldablematerialrfor snugly embracing the perimeter of the sole of the shoe,said guard having horizontal grooves extending along the inner side wallthereof, and a curved secondary guard of rigid material for overhangingthe instep of the shoe and having laterally extending projections alongthe perimeter thereof which fit into said grooves and serve as the solebearing means to support said secondary guard, whereby shocks fromobjects falling on said secondary guard will be 75,712,185 I V g gtransferred directly to said outer guard and onto the walking surface.

2. A detachable safety protector for a shoe comprising a substantiallyinverted trough shaped guard of flexible material adapted to bedetachably embraced about the instep of the shoe and having an integralupstanding perimetrical wall portion for partly surrounding the sole ofthe shoe and made of yieldable material, said perimetrical wall portionhaving horizontally extending grooves extending along the inner wallthereof substantially sursounding the sole of the shoe, an outer guardof corresponding inverted trough-like shape for overhanging the instepand having, at its extremities, lateral projections which fit into saidgroovesfor supporting said outer guard in spaced relationship withrespect to said first mentioned guard, whereby shocks from fallingobjects on said outer guard will be transferred directly to saidperimetrical Wall portion.

3. A safety protectoras recited in 'claim 2 wherein said first mentionedguard is of spongy material and is integral,

with said perimetrical wall portion which is also of spongyguard beingin the form of a vertical wall having horizontal grooves along theinner'side walls thereof, and a rigid outer guard" element havingprojectionson the perimeter thereof supported in said grooves formounting said outer guard in' spaced relationship with said instepprotector, whereby shocks from, objects falling on said outer guardwill'be transferred only to said side guard.

5. A safety protector as recited in claim 4 wherein said' outer guard ismade of rigid plastic material and is provided with notched out portionsformed between said projections to provide greater yieldability.

No references cited.

